1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for mounting devices on a substrate, and in particular for mounting devices such as electronic integrated-circuit components.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the modern techniques which are currently employed for producing electronic equipment and particularly data processing assemblies, increasingly frequent use is being made of integrated-circuit semiconductor devices, which are not enclosed. These unenclosed devices are normally referred to as integrated circuit chips. They are generally rectangular in shape and are provided on at least one of their sides with output conductors. Such devices are distinguished on the basis of their operational type or the categories into which their dimensions fall (these dimensions generally being of the order of a few millimeters).
In order to make such devices easier to handle, it has been proposed to dispose a plurality of these devices at the center of rectangular openings spaced along a film support. A device is attached to the film by an array of conductors, each conductor having one of its ends soldered to a contact on the device and its other end attached to an edge of the opening. To remove one of the devices, it is merely necessary to cut through the conductors in the gap between the device and the support film.
Also known is the use of connecting substrates, which frequently take the form of a board generally made of an insulating material, which is provided with connecting conductors produced in the form of circuits printed on the board. These conductors generally extend from connecting areas disposed adjacent spaces reserved for one type of device and terminate either at similar connecting areas or at outward connecting terminals intended to link the substrate to a piece of electronic equipment.